“I’m really pleased with the show,” CW president Dawn Ostroff says. “Creatively, I think they’ve done a great job. And the ratings are [strong] on Friday night. I have to commend [the producers]… It’s not easy in season 9 to keep a show fresh. And you know what I think? The fans have really liked the show this season.

“I don’t know which way we’ll go,” she continues, “but if you would’ve asked me [over the summer whether it would end this season] I would’ve said, ‘Oh, probably.’ But I can’t say that now.”

Update: But commenter "Q", much more of a Smallville (and as a result Ostroff) observer than I notes that at last summer's press tour executive session Ostroff had this to say about Smallville:

I hope it’s not the last season,” Ostroff says of Smallville. “I think the producers have come up with some really good storylines this season. I think the show has a lot of life left in it. We have high hopes for it staying on the air for a while.”

As Q notes in the comments below, Ms. Ostroff's comments on Saturday don't really line up very well with her comments last summer.